Guardian Owl
by TheAmp
Summary: After retiring from being Nite Owl, Dan has been seeing a lot of missing children fliers and news articles.  After growing tired, he decided to take action to save a little girl from a mass-murdering pedophile.  Rorschach makes appearance in final chap
1. Chapter 1

_NOTE: To be honest, I'm tired of seeing bullshit slash pairing fanfics. So here's one with Nite Owl saving a kid from a sick bastard. Fuckin' enjoy._

_EDIT: To those bashing me calling me homophobic. No, I'm not. I'm just tired of trying to find a good story only to find random illogical pairings with bad storylines, So I've made this fanfic to break the chain and introduce some gruesomeness. You CAN have a good fanfic without being gay, you know. If you have a problem, just send me an e-mail instead of posting anonymously like a coward. I'll just delete your review anyways._

**Chapter One: The Predator**

Everyday it caused him to grow more and more disgusted with the world. Every newspaper article, every bit of footage on the news, all of those missing children fliers all over the city. It caused him to get frustrated, worry, think, and eventually he began to wonder what these kids were going through. What's going through their minds, the minds of the kidnappers. _Why_ the kidnappers wanted... No. Don't go there, Daniel. Get your mind out of _that_ dark place.

Missing children, children found dead, mutilated or otherwise. He keeps seeing it everywhere. The faces almost seem to follow him.

A recent picture of a child that went missing was displayed in the paper. The poor little girl, Kylee Tucker, was only seven years old. He read it carefully, seeing that someone witnessed the kidnapping and described the person in well detail. The description came together in his mind much like a puzzle. A visual puzzle, to be precise. He could almost picture the criminal perfectly as if he had met the guy. He knows the address where the two were last seen, and wondered where they could be.

Old habit of the superhero kicking in? Perhaps, but Daniel debated on whether or not he should obey the habit. _All of those children. Rorschach can't do all of these cases by himself. Maybe it's time I brought the cape and cowl back out... while it still fits._ He looked down at his chubby self and just _hoped_ that he still could fit on the old owl suit. _As long as I don't tell Rorschach, there shouldn't be _too_ much blood..._

Normally Rorschach went around breaking pinkies to get information, but considering this was a Nite Owl solo mission, so he would do this Nite Owl-style: hacking.

The average civilian isn't aware of his hacking skills, nor should they be. In fact, he knows a lot about computers for someone in the early 80s. While sitting in Archie, he lifted what seemed to be a lid on the left side of the pilot's control panel. It appeared to be a small screen with green text on it, and he began to type various codes.

He was hacking the police database.

None of the Watchmen knew about his hacking skills, which was a good thing considering the Watchmen are quite the colorful bunch. Any minor feuds with these outrageous egos would cause him to be at risk for either blackmail or an instant turn-in to the police. Possibly the only person he would trust is Rorschach, since he's single-mindedly set on justice regardless and only expects the safety of innocents in return. _Which is perfectly fine by me but he's nuts. I'm just glad he's on our side._

After typing in the description from the newspaper, one name came up, which was Gabriel Carpenter; a child molester and murderer. _Oh God,_ he thought, _Very similar to a case that caused Rorschach to snap. I just hope he's alive and okay._ As he read further, he found that Gabe has been to jail about five times over the years due to multiple accounts of child molestation and ownership of child pornography, and was recently released due to good behavior. _How could someone release a monster that has been sent to jail for the same thing multiple times? No wonder Rorschach snaps. I just hope I don't and end up getting myself in trouble as well._

He read the multiple addresses that Gabriel has lived in, and found that all had been bought after he was arrested except the most recent home. Chances are, Gabriel might be there.

_Jesus, this house is like a mansion!_ Archie was easy to park, but trying to figure out which window in the very large, trashed up three-story building. Now Dan really began to worry, but considering that the house was located a little too far for people to hear a child's screams over the city's noises, she'll probably be screaming.. If she's still alive.

Thank god for darkness, though. He switched on his night vision goggles and proceeded to carefully open a window that just won't budge. He sighed and went to put a hand on the pane to lean against, but he about fell through the window. No pane? Oh, the glass was broken into and he couldn't tell. _Gah, I better be more aware of my surroundings or I'm gonna mess this up._ And so he proceeded to climb inside.

He almost wanted to cough and sneeze all at once from how much dust rushed to his nose. It almost lingered there forever, making him want to just up and leave so he can shower. No, can't. If I quit now, that little girl could be dead.. or worse.

As he walks around cautiously and quietly, he began to notice that the most creepiest thing about this place was all of the dolls here and there scattered about, torn to pieces, and filthy. It's almost like a graveyard of creepy cute things that could come to life singing creepy tunes in creepy child-voices.. _Okay stop thinking about things like that. They're just dolls... Fucking creepy dolls._

A shriek from upstairs made him about jump out of his skin after having his mind being focused on creepy dolls. The psychological mind of Dan Dreiberg automatically switched to Nite Owl mode, and he dashed light-footedly up the stairs. Two flights, he was almost out of breath, but he found a door cracked open, soft light pouring from it.

Considering this is one of the upper floors, the owl had assumed this had to be one of the bedrooms, and sadly he feared the worst. As he braced himself for what he might be about to see, he creeped up to the door and peeked in to make a quick judge of how to attack, but behind the goggles, his eyes widened to his surprise.

_Oh my God!_


	2. Chapter 2

_NOTE: Well since you're reading this, you've obviously read the first chapter and are interested in the rest of the story. Good for you for breaking away from trend-fics. Enjoy._

**Chapter Two: Chase**

_Oh my GOD I am not seeing this!_

Kylee was dressed in a pink tutu, but Gabriel wasn't making any sexual advancements towards her. Instead, he was whipping her.

According to what Nite Owl skimmed through, he apparently harms the child first, beating them so they're too weak to move, before he makes his "move."

_Not on my watch._ The owl charged in and tackled the man away from the bed and down onto the ground out of rage. Fists already doing the work for him before he had time to process the "I need to punch this son of a bitch" command.

But Gabriel manages to get free and take off running. Nite Owl looked to Kylee and said very softly, "Stay in this room so I can find you, but make sure you _hide_ in this room, too. Okay?" the frightened, beaten little girl nodded as the tears streamed down her face, stinging against the bruises and cuts, and took off for a closet.

Knowing Gabe would be more pre-occupied with running from him than trying to hurt Kylee, he took off after Gabe, night-vision automatically activated, and began to give chase.

The reason why Dan didn't just grab the kid and leave was because Gabriel would go after another child and take that child to another place, and by the time he or even Rorschach would find him, it would be too late for the child. Dan wanted to end this macabre tonight with this man.

He was starting to gain on the pedophile, his adrenaline rising mainly out of anger and desperation with what this man has done and will keep on doing. No. not a man. _A monster. I'll get him and make sure children are safe._ he started to realize more and more now that he thought about it why Rorschach beats guys like this to a bloody pulp beyond when they beg for mercy. This was one of those rare occasions that the owl would be facing the darker criminals, especially alone.

The sick criminal darted around the corner, and when Dan finally caught up to that corner, he saw a large piece of wood head straight for his face. Luckily, his reflexes haven't weakened over the years by much, and he was able to duck out of the way in time to avoid collision.

After the duck, the owl gave him a good slug in the gut, causing Gabe to stumble back a few steps. Nite owl took a step forward to close in on him, but a floor board gave away underneath his foot and he sunk down, almost losing balance.

The wood chunk came at his face again, and he brought an arm up to counter it. Due to the armor on his forearm, he was able to break it on impact, which proved it was rotten, old wood from the sound of the crack.

A left jab to the face. While the pedophile was busy tending to the bloody nose, Dan pulled his foot free from the floor and went after him again. Right cross, left jab, right uppercut. Gabe stumbled back again. Nite Owl took a few steps towards him and this time, _both_ of his feet caved into the rotten floor boards, but there was a sickening, meaty crunch, and a decaying little hand came up.

"Oh my Gh...," his night vision saw exactly what was beneath those floor boards, "Oh my _God!_ Oh my God, what is _wrong_ with you, you sick bastard?" Where he was standing were the many corpses of decaying children.

But being all caught up in the sight, when Nite Owl finally looked up, all he saw was a chunk of wood heading for him, and then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_NOTE: You made it to the final chapter. You're quite the little anxious one, aren't ya? Well, read on. This is the last chapter._

**Chapter Three: That Last Soul**

With a throbbing head, it was hard to tell how many limbs he has. Had. Originally had. Vision was blurred but bright. Unusually bright. Where was this place again? Oop, wait. There's a face.

Little Kylee was laying face-down on his stomach and chest, but looking up at him. He has never seen such fear in a child's eyes before.

Daniel went to lift his head a little more as a way of sitting up so he could cradle the child, but when he moved his head, he felt something behind it, leading down to his neck. He realized his goggles _and_ his mask have been removed. And this was _bad_.

He struggled to get his mask back on, but he couldn't move his hands or his feet. They were tied. Tied? Tied to what? The bed posts? He looked and saw that they in fact were tied to the bed posts. _This is definitely not good_. If any other of the Watchmen had witnessed this, they probably would have mocked him for letting his identity become revealed by a pedophilic psychopath. If _Rorschach_ had been here, he would have simply killed the psychopath with no remorse. _Damnit!_

But wait, it was just Gabriel and Kylee there. If he gets free, he could shut Gabriel up no problem, and he trusts Kylee in to keeping a secret.

"I'm scared," a teeny little voice broke his short-lived train of thought. Not only could he see, but he could _feel_ the little girl trembling on top of him. "I'm so scared. I-I wanna go home." Tears streaming down her cheeks, her reddish brown hair a tangled mess.

"Nngh," he tried to see if he could slip his hands through the ropes, but they were pretty tight. He looked back down at her, "Kylee. Are you alright?"

"H-he hurt me.. it.. it all hurts."

"What all did he do to you? It's okay to tell me. You know I came here to try and help."

"H-he throws me everywhere. He b-beats me. H-he says wh-we're gonna have fun every time he does it. He ch-chased me through the entire house."

_Okay, that means he hasn't gone beyond that. there's still hope to save her.._

"Kylee, sweetie, can you move?"

"I-I'm too scared.."

"I'm gonna need your help if you want me to take you home. I-" He was cut off by a crash from the door. When he quickly looked over, he saw Gabriel had apparently kicked the doors open, smirking, and holding a whip in his hand. Daniel glared at the pervert as he slowly made his way over.

"So," the pedophile said smugly, "The great Nite Owl is nothing more than a chubby guy that can afford fun toys?" _Shit, he must've taken everything my belt! ..._Including_ my belt!_ "Was it my work that brought you out of retirement? Do you _know_ this girl?"

"No. I don't know her. I am saving her out of concern."

"Concern? Concern for _what?_ Who gives a shit about this little brat?"

"She's just a child, Gabriel! For Christ's sake, you couldn't pick a woman, instead? Or do they put up too much of a fight for you?"

"And he knows my _name!_ Ha! Who sent you, bird-fucker?"

"I told you, I came here on my own. I don't work for anyone. This was out of concern."

"What business is this brat of yours?"

"The fact that sick whackos like you shouldn't be anywhere near children. In fact, I'm leaning more and more towards the death penalty for perverts like you every time I read the newspaper!"

"How did you find me? How did you know my name?"

"Why should I tell you?"

Gabriel's face went from angry to very pissed in a flash, quickly followed by an action of whipping the girl, then he scream, "Because if you don't, I'll tear this bitch in half with my dick!" Kylee screamed and cried in pain, clutching onto the hero's chest. This broke poor Dan's heart. A child on him in pain and he can't even do so much as to hold her close for comfort.

"I'm a superhero, Gabe. Guys like me are everywhere. Right under your nose. We do what we do because cops are bound by law. We aren't. We act on our own to make sure people _and children_ are safe."

Gabriel whipped the girl again and again, speaking as he did so, "You better tell me the truth, fucker! Or she's mine _on you!_" Then he stopped, "Then again, I _could_ take pictures of your stupid mug with her. you'd be the new pervert they'd be looking for."

Dan could practically feel the little fingers gripping his suit hard in pain. He had to think of something and fast. Buy time, _something_. "Instead of whipping her, why don't you do it to me? Unless you're afraid."

"Afraid? Afraid of what?"

"Well, for instance, you've got quite a bit of distance between you and me, yet here I am tied down to a bed."

With that, Gabriel shoved the girl not only off the hero, but off the bed entirely and then started to slug him in the gut, punching his face, and all Dan did was just take it. Anything to buy the poor little girl some time until he could think of something.

After about ten minutes worth of being pummeled, though the guy didn't have too much weight behind his punches, Gabriel finally stopped and backed up a bit, "I'mna need some heavy artillery if I wanna bust that suit open." He walked out.

The unmasked owl laid there, a bit bloody, but more bruised than anything else. Since the child wasn't on his torso anymore, he tried to yank free as hard as he could, but the ropes were too tight. He laid there, panting, and looked over to the little girl. Kylee was sitting there on the floor in fear, making Dan's heart sink more.

"Kylee," he said, trying not to accidentally frighten the little girl. He tried to be gentle, "If you can get one rope untied, I get break free and help you. Just one of my hands."

With hesitation, Kylee scurried to the bed and climbed onto it, trying to untie his hand, but she stopped and hugged his arm, burying her face into it and crying, "I can't. It's too tight."

"That's alright, Kylee. You tried." _Gotta think of something and quick. Think!_ To the side on the floor were his things. "Over there where my stuff is. See that moon? It's a blade. Bring it over here. you can probably cut one of the ropes loose."

The little girl hurried to his things and grabbed the moon blade, bringing it over and started to try and cut the rope, but she was shaking so bad she almost dropped it.

If she could just be calm.. "Kylee. I'm going to need you to calm down. I know you're scared, but pretend time is different in here. You have all the time in the world. All of the time you need."

She did try to pretend time ran slowly in this room, and to be honest, it felt like it did. This caused her to shake a little less, and she proceeded in cutting the rope. Halfway there, now.

Foosteps...

"Kylee, I might be able to break it, hide behind me and try working on the other rope. you don't have to cut it all the way through. Just halfway."

Kylee shoved herself behind his head, shoulders and arms and tried to cut the other rope. Gabriel walked in, "Where's the little bitch at?" He spotted her too soon, "You little shit!," he roared and grabbed her. She let out a shriek and screamed, "NO!"

Out of fury, Dan yanked his arm and hand towards Gabe, the rope that she worked on first broke, and he immediately grabbed Gabe by the lower part of his shirt so he couldn't get away, "LET HER GO!"

In the heat of the moment, Kylee merely reacted and used the blade to try and stab his face. She only managed to leave a deep cut from the top of his eye down to his mouth. He screamed in agony and threw her at the hero in frustration. Kylee landed on the owl but hurried to the rope and tried to cut it. Halfway done. She stopped just in time to hurry to his feet when Gabriel was about to whip her. He only whipped the owl's arm, which left no damage due to the heavy-armored suit.

Daniel grabbed the perv and yanked his other hand free. Instead of beating him, he put Gabriel in a headlock so that Kylee could get his feet free.

The ropes at the feet were halfway done, and he yanked his feet free. Now he wasn't confined to the bed anymore, and began to beat up Gabriel. What motivated him to go beyond the usual fighting he does was Kylee's frightened eyes burn into his memory.

Gabe was now unconscious.

Nite Owl went over and hugged the little girl. He wanted to so bad since the start. She needed the comfort now more than anything. Kylee's little arms wrapped around his neck in a thankful embrace, crying.

Dan picked up the little girl and carried her over to his things. It didn't take him long to put the belt back on, and he proceeded to carry her outside. He was going to finally take her home.

But before Nite Owl completely made it out of the yard to Archie, he heard Gabriel shout at him. He looked over his shoulder, seeing Gabriel making his way to the door to get outside.

"Daniel?," he heard from the surrounding trees, and it was actually Rorschach. The masked man tensed when he saw Nite owl's mask off and a girl in his arms, "What happened?"

"Kylee, this is Rorschach. he's a friend of mine," and he took her over to Rorschach and put the little girl in his arms. Rorschach instinctively held her but he was uneasy.

"What's going on?," Rorschach sounded angered and worried.

"You watch Kylee. I'm gonna go take care of Gabe once and for all." With that, he walked over towards the charging Gabriel, knocked him down with a clothesline, and proceeded to pummel him once more.

Rorschach had never seen Daniel act like this before towards a kidnapper. Kylee looked up to Rorschach and asked, "Does he always do that?" She sniffled a bit.

"No," Rorschach simply replied, not taking his eyes off Daniel, "But he must. He's doing it for you. And all of the children this man has killed."

Gabriel was coughing on blood, but managed to gargle out words when Daniel had a moment to stop beating on him, "Wh-who the fuck _are_ you?"

"For once," Daniel said with a glare, "I'm your worst nightmare." A few more hard slugs, and Gabriel was unconscious.

On Archie, flying home, Daniel didn't bother putting the mask back on. He held the little girl in his arms closely. Kylee was covered in bandages. The owl made sure her wounds were carefully treated by him with the first-aid kit he had on board. All he did was hold the little girl close.

"He saw your face," said Rorschach, "_She_ saw your face. Not good."

"He won't live long enough to see jail," Daniel simply said which was an unusually soft tone, "And I'm sure Kylee can keep a secret."

Kylee managed to nod, still clinging to the owl, "I-I promise I won't tell," and after a small pause of silence, she then said, "Thank you, Nite Owl."

This warmed Dan's heart. This was the very first thanks any of the Watchmen has ever received.

Locals found Gabriel carpenter bleeding to death but his final words were, "Watch out for Nite Owl." Some officials say it was Rorschach's doing, but other witnesses report Rorschach was actually still breaking people's hands getting information on where Gabriel really was hiding. Police did an investigation throughout the entire house and found multiple decaying bodies of the missing children that were never seen again. One investigator left a note attached to Gabriel's shoulder with a moon-like blade that said, "I did this for the children." police say apparently Nite Owl had enough seeing so many missing children fliers and were actually glad of what he did, considering some of the officials' children were among the decaying bodies.

The sheriff gave a brief interview on television saying, "Wherever he is, I'm glad he did what he did. Thank you, Nite Owl."


End file.
